CRICKET NEWS: The inaugural Women’s Masters World Cup launched yesterday at Malvern College with an invitational women’s match between England and an International XI. Organised by the Senior Women’s Cricket Association the event has attracted players from all over the world for the month-long tournament that sees fixtures around Worcestershire and Wales. But, spectators at yesterday’s match were somewhat puzzled to spot at least SIX male cricketers on the pitch. Fielding for the International XI was Annalise (Andrew) Britton from Wales who told his Facebook followers how thrilled he was to have made his debut and looking forward to playing for Wales on Monday at Colwall. Batting for England we spotted another male, Amy (Andy) Holmes a BBC journalist with 3 Counties Radio, who has previously spoken extensively about his ‘trans’ experience and is an LGBTQ+ mentor for the No Boundaries Cricket Club. We also spotted two men on the pitch from Gunnersbury Women’s Cricket Club. Gunnersbury, one of the oldest women’s cricket clubs in the country, was very vocal in its opposition to the ECB ban on men in women’s cricket and vowed to ‘stand by their trans players’. We emailed the organisers last week to clarify the entry criteria for the WOMEN’S Masters World Cup but received no reply. We wanted to know: ❓Why does the Women’s Masters World Cup include men, given the Supreme Court ruling that the word women ONLY applies to those whose sex is female? ❓Did the organisers ask all the women players for their written consent to play against males given the considerable increased risk of injury they face? ❓Is the event insured as a mixed-sex event? If insured as a women’s event do the insurers cover the additional risk of males bowling and batting at women? ❓Are the men using the female changing rooms and toilets - a clear breach of the law? Reminder: the fastest recorded speed of a cricket ball bowled by a male is 100.2 mph. The fastest recorded speed of a cricket ball bowled by a female is 82.1 mph. This milestone in women’s cricket should have been a cause for celebration. Last week hundreds of female cricketers descended on Malvern to celebrate the centenary of the first women’s cricket match at Colwall Cricket Club. We wonder what those women who walked out onto the pitch at Colwall in 1926 would have thought of the game they fought so hard for being hijacked by men.